Drug-dealing vet pleads guilty to smuggling heroin in the bellies of puppies

September 29, 2018

Authorities said Andres Lopez Elorez and his Colombia-based co-conspirators used various methods to sneak drugs into New York and Florida, including surgically implanting liquid heroin into the bellies of puppies. (DEA, New York Division)

This was one sick puppy.

A Colombian veterinarian pleaded guilty Friday to charges that he smuggled heroin into the U.S. in the bellies of cute little canines.

Authorities said Andres Lopez Elorez and his Colombia-based co-conspirators used various methods to sneak drugs into New York and Florida, including surgically implanting liquid heroin into the bellies of puppies.

When the little dogs arrived in the U.S. from Colombia, the heroin was surgically removed from their bodies.

Between Sept. 8, 2004 and Jan. 1, 2005, Elorez and his partners imported one kilogram or more of heroin into the the country at a street value of about $500,000.

Elorez, 39, was extradited from Spain, where he has lived for the past 12 years

Elorez, wearing surgical scrubs, and speaking in federal court in Brooklyn through a Spanish interpreter, admitted to the horrific plot that took place “when I was studying as a vet”.

“I conspired together with another experienced veterinarian to introduce drugs into the United States of America through surgical acts on dogs,” Elorez said.

Elorez faces between seven and nine years in prison when he is sentenced next year.

Since the puppies were seized in 2005, all have apparently died, but some lived happy and interesting lives. Two became pets, one for the family of a Colombian National Police, or CNP, officer. Another of the dogs ended up being trained as a drug sniffing dog for the CNP.